I just recently found out my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer. He's 84. I'm in early 30's but always struggled with short attention spans, ADD and short term memory loss. Then again I smoke pot daily ;p

I noticed both my Dad and I are both sometimes scattered brains, we're both uneducated and never picked up a book in our lives, in other words: we're dumb. I guess we've always been that way, compared to my sis who is well educated and an intellectual with a strong passion for reading. I myself sometimes slur struggle finding the right words to complete sentences and short term memory loss.

I'm sure if we were elevated by professional, the doctors will contribute my fathers issue to his heavy alcohol use and the effects. In my case, I'm sure I would be diagnosed with cognitive issues due to my pot smoking.

However, I am now worried that i might have early onset Alzheimer. I'm not looking forward to the exams with neuros and the battery of test due to my anxiety. The life expectancy for EOA is what worries me the mos 3-5 for EOA and up to 10-20 for late onset, like my gradnfather,

My father has Alzheimer's and he's in his 70's. In fact both my grand other and grandfather had it as well. Everyone in my fathers side of the family gets it so there is a big possibility that I will meet the same fate but there is a big difference between late and early onset Alzheimer's. The chances of you developing EOA is slim to nine since in your family it only happens late. EOA almost always runs in the family so someone else must have had it for you to even have a remote risk of it.

Not reading, being uneducated, having a short attention span or a bad memory are not indicative of the development of EOA or Alzheimer's in general. There are other factors that contribute to that.

Also pot has actually been shown to delay Alzheimer's so as far as that's concerned, its a good thing even though you could attribute your other issues to it and might want to reduce your usage of it.

Today I woke up anxious and emailed my doc the same question, I got this reply from nurse that was sent from my doc:

"No need to see me for this.Patient may discuss concerns with his Psychiatrist."

I take this as she thinks it's my anxiety. Or can psychiatrist consult with someone with concerned about Alzheimer Disease. I thought it was strictly neurologist that you would see for consultation for AD. I love my doctor because she is so thorough and has been a doc for over 30 years. I didnt like that response at all. What do u think?

You generally don't need a specialist to diagnose suspected Alzheimer's, primary care practitioners evaluate and treat for this all the time. Which suggests to me that, yes, she thinks it's an anxiety issue. The initial screening for dementia would be a Mini-mental status exam. A psychiatrist would be familiar with this test.

Often with early-stage dementia, the patient isn't the one who notices the problems. Far more commonly, family members note changes in the patient's memory or behavior.

You mention your pot usage on more than one occasion, so I think it's clear that you recognize that there is a problem. As a medical professional, I agree with you that this is VERY likely the cause for your memory problems. Your father has also modeled similar behavior for you....all children don't always respond in the same way, but you often do what you know. I wouldn't say you were dumb. That's really no better a label than crazy. I would say with your already-present learning challenges with the ADD you unfortunately didn't have a good model in which to see the rewards of education. Consider going to see your psychiatrist. but rather than focusing on your deficits, focus on the fact that there is part of you looking perhaps for something more. Your psychiatrist could help you get treated properly for your ADD, connect you with some support to cut down or eliminate your marijuana usage, and/or help you get some access for adult education.

Regarding the nurses' response from your doctor's office: From a medical perspective the response is reasonable one. But as a patient who seeks a lot of emotional support (perhaps too much?) from her doctors, I would honestly feel a little put-off or hurt by the short impersonal response. Knowing this of myself, I would then sit down and journal it out and remind myself not to read too much into the situation if I otherwise trust and like my doctor(s)

You generally don't need a specialist to diagnose suspected Alzheimer's, primary care practitioners evaluate and treat for this all the time. Which suggests to me that, yes, she thinks it's an anxiety issue. The initial screening for dementia would be a Mini-mental status exam. A psychiatrist would be familiar with this test.

That last sentence sent me googling. True they are familiar with dementia exams but not routinely performed. Most results were from dementia patients seeing a psychiatrist for emotional treatment due to disease. I didnt want to spend too much time googling due to fears.

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Regarding the nurses' response from your doctor's office: From a medical perspective the response is reasonable one. But as a patient who seeks a lot of emotional support (perhaps too much?) from her doctors, I would honestly feel a little put-off or hurt by the short impersonal response. Knowing this of myself, I would then sit down and journal it out and remind myself not to read too much into the situation if I otherwise trust and like my doctor(s)

Good luck to you!

Yes I think it's quite funny that pretty much all symptoms of marijuana use match AD. I've been smoking pot for nearly 10 years and since the first month of smoking pot I noticed these symptoms. So common sense tells me these issues are due to MJ use. I noticed if I get a cold or flu and abstain for marijuana, i seem more razor sharp and much more articulate. So if it was EOA it would have progressed to the point of real short and long term memory loss.

I have kaiser permenante so I'm able to email my doctor for any concern. She's an awesome doctor and likes to give a battery of test to get to the point, rather than write everything off as stress, "it's all in your head" type of doc. However since I been with her for over 1 year, I sent over 40 messages and seen her over 12 times from everything from liver, pancras, kidney, lung concerns and was given MRIs, blood test, scans, ultrasounds and x-rays. and all were fine. She hates the thought of radiation but understands my fears. So imagine I annoy her more than anything.

Also I had ct scan on brain about 4 years ago because I was getting dull headaches (i went to ER) of course no doc would refer ct scan for headaches, unless other symptoms were occurring. My ct scan was clear if that means anything. But that was 4 years. And 4 years ago I had these same issues.

I;m obviously going through HA scare due to finding out my grandfather has it. I never research that disease before and I pretty much research every disease known haha

Also what's really reassuring is that late onset alzheimer is fairly common, 1 out of 3 seniors will develop it when they hit their 80s. Almost all of them are sporadic, of course it raises risk for 1st degree but it's much less for 2nd degree. Even then the risk is not that high, compared to family version of early onset Alzheimer which is 50/50 sometimes 100% and really rare.

Stupid HA, if I found out my grandfather was Dx with ALS - I know for a fact I will suddenly have muscle weakness or if he was DX with heart issues I would suddenly complain about chest pressure. None of these symptoms I have, jsut crazy HA messing with my head.

My xanax and meds ran out, so now im here posting like a mad man. I havent been on this site for sometime because Ive been dealing with my HA with meds and counseling.

My father in law is starting to show symptoms of Alzheimer's/dementia and they are nothing like what you describe. For example he drove the car to the neighbors and then walked home because he forgot he drove the car. When asked where the car was he couldn't remember.

A lot of my friends smoked pot back in high school ( get it...high school) and they were scatter brained and forgetful at times. Just comes with pot use I guess. Maybe a touch of adhd but certainly nothing worse.

Btw not liking to read doesn't make you dumb. My hubby is very intelligent and hates reading...unless it's about corvettes or motorcycle or apache helicopters. He is an apache pilot training course developer and maintenance expert.

You are not stupid. You don't have eoa...you have anxiety! Try to relax and hang in there!